Les Ilets de la Plage
- Category
- Villa & Condo Resorts
- Island
- St Barthélemy
- Location
- Saint-Jean , Saint-Jean
- Prices from:
- Euros €200.00/ room/night ? view all rates
At a glance
Les Ilets de la Plage is a delightful hideaway of just eleven villas on the excellent sand of St Jean beach on St Barths’ north shore. The small resort is within a shout of all the activity of St Jean, the island’s most fashionable town, but it is secluded and self contained, which enables you to hide away when you wish. There is a mix of one, two and three-bedroom villas, each with full kitchen facilities in a covered open-air living room, and they are quite simply but elegantly decorated. There is a central pool and a reception with books, but otherwise les Ilets is all about solitude set on a cracking beach.
- Best for:
- Beach, Family, Weddings & Romance
- Who for:
- Couples, families, and those in search villa living with a few hotel services.
- Not for:
- Campers, backpackers
- How to get there:
- Via St Maarten or Antigua
Key features
St Barths villa accommodation in a quiet resort setting, superb beach, 11 one, two and three-bedroom apartments, set either on the sand or on the hillside, fully equipped kitchens in a covered and spacious open-air living area, air-conditioned bedrooms, small music system, breakfast and daily maid service, central swimming pool, WiFi access, reception and library.
Style:
Quiet, understated St Barths luxury resort in a variation on traditional West Indian and St Barths’ ‘case’ style, wood or render walls and pointed red tin roofs. Rooms simple and stylish
Client Profile:
Independent travellers, many (extremely wealthy) visitors who have been coming to St Barths for years, some families, a good mix of French and English-speaking guests
Journalist’s Review
In Depth
St Barths has always had excellent villa accommodation. With so many visitors who keep returning, who know the island well enough to look after themselves, and so many excellent restaurants for them to visit in the evenings, a private villa or a villa resort (a cluster of villas with some hotel service) is very often the place they prefer to stay. Les Ilets de la Plage has been just this sort of place, favourite of a number of extremely wealthy visitors, for many years. Tucked away at the end of St Jean beach it is within a shout of all the action, but it has its own tranquillity and solitude. It is comfortable and very well presented and intentionally simple (in terms of size, layout and service), the way that St Barths used to be.
You approach Les Ilets around other side of the airstrip, beneath a massive rock face. A barrier restricts entry to the final approach, which has the villas of les Ilets and a handful of other private houses at the end of the beach. As you reach the sea and then turn along the waterfront, the Reception/Concierge appears on the beach side. A member of staff greets you and settles you into your villa. You will find someone in reception during office hours and they will help you with any on-island requirements you have during your stay, for instance restaurants or trip reservations. There is a bookshelf from which you can borrow books and DVDs.
The small resort is laid out in two sections. Set just behind the reception building, right on the beach, are four very attractive one bedroom cottages in typical traditional West Indian style, which look over grass and the sand to the sea. They stand in a line, slightly staggered and separated by palms and bushes, their walls bright white and touched with blue in the wooden window surrounds. The four pointed red tin roofs stand out prettily against the greenery and the sky. Inside they are brightly painted and comfortably furnished in a simple but attractive style. They each have a wooden deck at the front with a view through the palms to the sea and the bedrooms are upstairs in the pitched roof.
Set on the hillside, on the other side of the (very quiet) access road, are the seven other garden villas, set in five buildings. Again they are surrounded by greenery, reached by a stepped walkway, their balconies each invisible from the next. Here the style is more a variation on the local St Barths ‘case’ theme and so they are slightly more brightly coloured, in yellow and greens. Again the doors and windows are touched with blues and greens. All the villas have the same distinctive pitched red tin roofs. In most cases the view carries over the roofs of the beachfront villas and into St Jean Bay with its rich turquoise blue.
Inside, the villas are very comfortable and nicely decorated. Care has been put into keeping them simple, so they are crisp with off-white walls and pleasantly uncluttered for the Caribbean. The sitting and kitchen area is large, covered but open to the air, with a rock garden built into the room at the rear. It has traditional West Indian louvers to encourage the best of natural ventilation. The bedrooms are enclosed and can be air-conditioned, or they can be opened up to catch the breeze. Villas have a CD/radio player and a TV with DVD player. There is wireless internet access covering the main areas of the resort. At the foot of the slope, opposite the Reception building you will find the shared swimming pool. To one side is an open-sided cabana, which also has a red roof, with a satellite TV.
Les Ilets de la Plage has a very easy and tranquil atmosphere with considerable low key style. Not very much is organised centrally by the hotel, but its guests are fairly self contained and independent minded and so they do not generally want it. Finally, if the road around the airstrip is the usual route of approach, there is another, more pleasant way, in to Les Ilets, which you will probably adopt after a while – a walk along the beach.
Beach & Swimming
The St Jean beach is right there (four of the villas actually sit on the sand). The sand is bright white and the sea a wonderful colour of blue. The swimming is good in St Jean Bay. Enclosed by a reef, the bay is quite shallow, so the waves are not huge but the water can be lively.
There is a pool at Les Ilets, at the foot of the slope beneath all the hillside villas. It is pleasantly decked with ipe hardwood and there is a gazebo at one end with satellite TV. There are loungers around the deck.
Sports & Recreation
Each cottage at les Ilets has snorkelling gear which you can use in the bay (or take with you to the other beaches on the island). If you want more adventurous sports then kayaks, windsurfers and small sailing boats are available farther down St Jean beach. Scuba suppliers are based around the island.
Tennis is available close by and horse-riding through the stables in Flammands. There is no serious golf on the St Barths (the closest courses are in Anguilla and St Maarten), though there is a very nice course in Nevis and one in St Kitts not far away.
Staff
There is daily maid service to the villas (except Sundays and holidays). The Reception/Concierge is manned daily from 8am 6pm except Sundays. The staff is very happy to arrange trips for you and restaurant bookings.
Les Ilets is owned by a native family of St Barths, the second generation of which lives in France. It is managed by Eric and assisted by Carine.
The villas
There are four one-bedroom villas on the beach, each of which give out onto the grass and then sand. On the landward side of the road there is a variety of villas, another four one-bedrooms, two further two-bedrooms and a three bedroom villa. Bedrooms can be air-conditioned and are equipped with a CD player and a safe. There is wireless internet access at the resort.
The villas are equipped with full kitchens.
The four villas on the beach side are each in the same style. You enter via a deck at the front where there is a teak table and chairs (ideal for meals outside) and enter a large sitting area with bench seats built into the wall. At the rear of the room a dining table sits to one side and on the other is the kitchen which is set behind a bar. The bedroom is on the upper floor.
The layout of the villas on the hillside is more varied and the colours of both the buildings and the interiors vary too, but they have the same crispness of decoration and design.
Dining
There is no dining room or bar at Les Ilets de la Plage. There are so many good restaurants on the island that it is not really needed. The villas have fully equipped kitchens so it is possible to cater for yourself when you do not want to go out.
Breakfast, a basket of pastries, is provided daily and is included in the room rate. A grocery shopping service is available, both for your arrival and during your stay if you wish.
It is possible to buy ready-cooked meals in St Jean that you can heat up, or to order them in through a number of delivery services. In St Barths it is even possible to find a chef to cook a whole dinner party if you like.
Children
Les Ilets suits families well. There is the flexibility of the villas on the hillside with more than one bedroom, and then the villas on the waterfront stand close to one another. The area itself is quiet and the beach is very good (though the waves can get up so you will need to watch very small children).
Baby sitting can be arranged on request.
Useful Hints
Les Ilets is happy to buy groceries for you prior to your arrival so that you do not need to go out to buy anything on your first day.
Practical Facts
Annual Closure Dates: 01 September to 20 October
Dress Code: very informal
Facilities: Central freshwater swimming pool. Reception. Library. WiFi in main areas. Pool side gazebo with satellite TV
Complimentary: Breakfast pastries delivered to villas daily. Snorkelling equipment. Book and DVD library.
Other Services: Concierge services for trips and restaurant bookings Mon-Sat. Maid service Mon-Sat. Pre-stocking and grocery shopping service available.
Children: Very welcome. Babysitting available on request (extra)
Accommodation: 11 villas
Rooms: All rooms have air-conditioned bedrooms, ceiling fans, en suite bathroom with shower only, hairdryer, safe, TV with DVD player, direct dial telephone, radio/CD player, iron and ironing board, an open-plan living/dining room with fully equipped kitchen with hot plates, full size fridge, coffee maker, microwave and toaster, and a covered terrace. 4 x BEACH VILLAS are one-bedroom, two-storey beach front cottages with the bedroom (twins or double bed) and en suite bathroom upstairs. An open-plan living room downstairs has built-in seating, dining area with picnic style table and chairs and a kitchen. A covered terrace has teak table and chairs, overlooks a small garden area and the beach. 7 x GARDEN VILLAS are single storey and set back into the gardens on the hillside near the central swimming pool. Most have views of the bay from the terrace. These include 4 x One-Bedroom Garden Villas (three semi-detached and one detached) each with queen size beds. 2 x Two-Bedroom Garden Villas (one detached and one semi-detached) with king or twin beds in the master bedroom and a double bed in the second bedroom. 1 x Three-Bedroom Garden Villa is detached and has a queen size bed in the master bedroom which is en suite, and the other two have either a double or twins beds and share a bathroom. This villa has its own private garden area and unlike the others, does not have a view of the bay
Credit Cards: Visa, MasterCard and American Express
Locality
Les Ilets de la Plage is set at the western end of St Jean beach, nicely tucked away from the main activity of the beach (which is quite social), but within easy access of it if you want.
To leave by car you head around the airstrip and it is from there it is a short distance one way to St Jean or over the hill into Gustavia. Close to the airport there is a petrol station, shops and a supermarket. Beyond here, in the beachfront section of the town, there are more shops and several restaurants.
Gustavia has a very pretty port mostly surrounded by boardwalk and the smartest of the shops. It also has many restaurants and bars. Although there are good beaches on the north side of the island (St Jean is the most active, Lorient has a local feel and Flammands is long and often deserted), it is well worth going to the two beaches on the south coast, Anse de Grande Saline and Anse du Gouverneur (access via Gustavia).
Meet & Greet
Les Ilets do not offer a transfer service to the hotel on arrival, but they would be happy to send a taxi for you to the airport or the ferry dock. However, most guests pick up a hire car at the airport and drive themselves to the resort.
Getting Around
Taxis are quite hard to come by in St Barths, and so be aware that if you have a dinner reservation in one of the other restaurants around the island you may have to reserve a cab a couple of days in advance.
All in all it is easiest to hire a car, which will enable you to visit the beaches by day and to go out in the evenings. On St Barths we recommend Europcar and Gumbs Car Rental. Both companies have outlets at the airport if you wish to pick up your car on arrival, but they will also deliver to the hotel. Please be aware that at the height of the season, particularly over Christmas and New Year, it is very hard to get hold of a car and so it is necessary to book it at least a month in advance.
